Arvo Pärt: Alina

For the very first time on vinyl, presented in a cardboard single-sleeve LP including a four-page insert with a text by Hermann Conen:

 

In July 1995, Arvo Pärt and Manfred Eicher met at the Festeburg Church in Frankfurt with four attentive musicians—the violinist Vladimir Spivakov, the cellist Dietmar Schwalke, and the pianists Alexander Malter and Sergej Bezrodny—to realize a recording focused entirely on the compositions “Für Alina” and “Spiegel im Spiegel.” The result, the ECM New Series album "Alina", holds a special place both in the discography of the Estonian composer and in the ECM catalogue.

“Für Alina”, written in 1976, was a groundbreaking composition for Pärt and symbolically marked the starting point for his subsequent works. “I could compare my music to white light that contains all colors,” Arvo Pärt said at the time. “Only a prism can divide the colors and make them visible; this prism could be the listener’s mind.”

Contemporary reviewers noted that closely following the flow of "Alina" sharpens perception. Gramophone described the album as “the voice of an inner exile, introspective and deeply personal, yet accessible to anyone willing to listen. The great danger in listening to "Alina" is that much of what you hear afterward may suddenly seem like noise—too much noise. But it is a risk worth taking.”

Vladimir Spivakov - Violin
Sergej Bezrodny - Piano
Alexander Malter - Piano
Dietmar Schwalke - Violoncello

Tracklisting:
A1. Pärt:  Spiegel im Spiegel (Version for Violin & Piano)
A2. Pärt:  Für Alina
A3. Pärt:  Spiegel im Spiegel (Version for Cello & Piano)

B1. Pärt:  Für Alina (Reprise)
B2. Pärt:  Spiegel im Spiegel (Reprise) (Version for Violin & Piano)